In some of my reviews, I have a spoilers section. It will be clearly defined but please do not read that portion if you have not read the book. I use this section as a refresher since we generally have to wait so long for the next book in a series.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

It's been almost two years since I read book two of The Seven Deadly series, and unfortunately I didn't leave a recap review. So basically I started out not really knowing any of the backstory, luckily these books can be read as a standalone.

Ethan is a little pathetic at first, sick as he is with losing his girlfriend to another guy. He is so heartbroken he spends each of his days exactly like the one before, drinking to oblivion, sleeping it off, and starting over the next day. That is until his old high school friend Finley shows up and knocks him over the head with a bit of common sense. He is so wrapped up in his own problems, which seem a bit petty considering, he doesn't even realize Fin is fighting her own battles. I will admit that once he finally pulls his head out his ass, he is perfect for her.

***Spoilers/ Recap***
Fin tells Ethan she is volunteering in Vietnam for a year, but he doesn't give it much thought in the beginning. As the day gets closer he accepts her noncommittal responses every time he asks her exactly what she will be doing. He reluctantly drops her off at the airport, and agrees to let her have her time. He learns a few days later, that her mother sold her to men when she was young, and she is going to volunteer in Vietnam to help young trafficked girls escape. When his dad tells him to go to her, and protect her, he takes off. She isn't thrilled at first, but is eventually glad he's there. After a few tough breaks, and only rescuing a few girls, Ethan is fed up with all of the corrupt police, and authority figures there. They make their already difficult, and dangerous job even harder. As part Native American, of warrior blood, and able to protect himself well, he strikes out on his own at night. He is able to rescue so many girls, but it eventually catches up to him. He knows the girls home, the women who work there, Fin, and the priest won't be safe because of his actions. Khahn and his minions are looking for him, and he has to kill Khahn in order to save them all. At the end he finds Khahn's base, and kills everyone there, rescuing 29 children, but leaving with several bullet holes, and only a tiny grasp of life left. After a critical touch and go period, he finally makes it, and he and Fin head back to the states. They stay long enough to save their money, and then escape to live life on the tropical beach of Costa Rica.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

I wish these books were longer!! It feels like no time goes by, and then I'm finished. It took five months for book two to come out, so I will be extra specific with the recap below. Imagine waking up every 48 hours not knowing who you are, or where you are. Then imagine spending the next 2 days trying to figure it out, only to start all over when it happens again. Charlie & Silas are experiencing just that. Not only are they trying to find out who they are, they are also trying to find out why this keeps happening to them. Someone wants them to forget, but they desperately want to remember.

***Spoilers/ Part 1 & 2 Recap***

In Never Never Part 1, Charlie and Silas both lose their memories at the exact same time. It takes them a while before they realize that it happened to both of them, and then they try to put as much together as they can. Over the two days they spend trying to figure out who they are, they learn that they are both seniors. They have been together four years, but they were both cheating on one another. Their fathers once worked together, but Charlie's father is now in prison. Her mom is a drunk, they used to have money, and she has a little sister. Silas family is wealthy, and his dad hates Charlie. His brother covers for him any chance he gets, but no one else knows what is happening to them. At the end of the book Charlie & Silas are on Bourbon street, visiting a tarot card reader. While in the shop, the two of them notice a picture of a gate, the same picture Charlie has hanging in her room. Silas took the picture, but neither of them know when it was taken, or where. They argue over the reading, because Silas thinks it's crap. Charlie wants to know more, especially when the reader draws a blank card, and said she had never seen it before. Charlie gets upset, and decides to take a cab home. He lets her leave, but no one has heard from her the next morning. While looking for her at her house, he sees a letter addressed to Charlie. He takes it, and after reading it he learns that they both lose their memories every 48 hours. They write down what happened to them, and anything they learn and mail it to themselves so they know what's wrong when the lose their memories again. Silas is reading the letter when he realizes he only has 3 minutes until he loses his memories again. He writes down all that they have learned, and also that Charlie is out there without a phone, or an id, and soon she won't know who she is. His last sentence is "Charlie got into a cab on Bourbon street last night, and no one has seen her since. She doesn't know about this letter. Find her. The first thing you need to do is find her. Please."

In Part 2, Silas wakes up again not knowing who he is, but he has all the answers he needs in his hands. While reading everything about himself that he should already know, he also learns that this Charlie, whom he's never met is also out there somewhere not knowing who she is. She doesn't have the notes, and he has to find her. Janette, Charlie's sister is really worried that she never came home, and no one has heard from her. Silas only knows that she got into a cab on Bourbon street. Over the next two days he gathers all of their notes, old letters, and Charlie's journals trying to piece things together, and find a place that she might have gone to. He goes back to the tarot card reader, and asks again about the gate in the picture. She tells him the inscription on the gate, Jamais Jamais is French, and translates to Never Never. When he tells her he is looking for someone, she says "the girl". He tells her yes, that they were both there last night. She says "I remember, but that only makes one of us doesn't it?" When he questions how she knew that, she tells him it's not that simple. That during their reading his card was blank. She's heard of it happening before, but its never happened to her. Silas asks her what else she knows, and she says "What I can tell you... the only thing I will tell you... is that you need to remember what it is that someone so desperately wanted you to forget." Silas asks his brother if he has ever heard of a place called Jamais Jamais, and he tells him that is Charlie's old house. When he finally finds it, it's dark and he can't find a way in. He decides to sleep there because it's isolated, and search in the morning. His brother Landon finds him there in the morning, and he decides to tell him everything. At first he doesn't believe him, but still gives Silas the answers he has to give. Landon tells him that there was some kind of audit and missing money when their dad, and Charlie's dad were business partners. Their dad found evidence proving that Charlie's dad was guilty, but the files were taken before he could turn them over. His dad has always blamed Charlie, but he finds out it was him. He took them to protect Charlie. He also tells Silas, that Ezra, their housekeeper reluctantly told the police she found a sheet with blood in his room last week when they questioned her about Charlie's disappearance. When the two of them go back to Jamais Jamais to pick up Landon's car, he learns that a woman Janice Delacroix bought the home. He doesn't know the name, but is told she is some tarot card reader with a daughter they go to school with. Her daughter's name is Cora Delacroix, but everyone calls her The Shrimp. This is the same girl that Silas thought might know something about Charlie's disappearance. Meanwhile Charlie keeps waking up in a locked room, in what she thinks is some kind of hospital. They keep drugging her, but she manages to keep the last dose of pills in her cheek. When a new nurse arrives, she is able to overpower her, and take the keys. As she is running through the home she's been locked in, she finds a way out only to run into Silas about to be eaten by a massive dog. She kills the dog with the same pipe she used to over power the nurse. He takes her to a hotel, because they will both lose their memory in a few hours, and he wants to make sure he tells her what's going on before, and that they are together when it happens again. They both have to go to the police, and let everyone know she is safe, but not before they figure out who they are first. At the end of the book, they wake up together and eat breakfast. Landon joins them and the clock ticks down to 11:00, but the book ends a just a few seconds beforehand.

Friday, June 12, 2015

I enjoyed One Plus One.. It wasn't a five star book, and didn't even live up to it's predecessors, but it did it's job. First I should disclose that I only noticed the price of this book after I had paid for it. Being stuck in an airport terminal calls for drastic measures. I could have read it on my computer, but sometimes there just isn't a replacement for holding the real thing. So was it worth $17, probably not. It took a little too long to get going, but once it did I was committed.

Single mothers often work hard at making everything fine. Giving every bit of themselves to their children, without ever thinking about themselves. Jess is a prime example of selflessness. Her no good husband walked out two years ago, and she has done everything she can to keep her little family together. Her stepson Nicky isn't one of the cool kids, and because of this he suffers the unfortunate fate of being the local bullies favorite target. Her daughter Tanzie is a math whiz, and has been offered an opportunity of a lifetime. Ed Nichols finds himself the unlucky chauffer to his cleaning lady Jess, her goth-like son, and the child prodigy Tanzie. Though he agrees only because he can't find a way to back out, their road trip turns into more than any of them thought possible.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

When It Rains is not a book you read in public. It was heartbreaking, and so accurate at portraying how absolutely unfair this life seems at times. I honestly don't know how you can read it, and not get even a little emotional. So be forewarned, don't read in public and have a few tissues nearby.

Kate & Beau have been best friends since they were children, and everyone expects them to end up together one day. I think they were expecting the same. Unfortunately one night forever changed both of their lives, and left Kate unable to overcome it. Beau tries to be there, and help her through it, but he can't help her with what he doesn't understand. Kate can't seem to overcome her secret, and eventually watches Beau leave her behind. Asher is new in town, and that's quite obvious when he focuses his attention on Kate. She feels the chemistry, that invisible pull, but resists. Asher doesn't quit, and with him Kate feels safe. She doesn't have to be the girl she was before, only the girl she is now. With his help, and persistence, Kate is able to start living again. For the first time in years, she is happy, and looking toward a future. Then it's all ripped away, destroyed again, this time by someone else's secret.